Stillwater: Zephyr locomotives still sitting, one on city property

One of two Minnesota Zephyr engines sits on blocks of wood south of the depot on city property in downtown Stillwater on Sept. 20, months after owner Dave Paradeau said they would be moved. (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)

When plans to store the six Minnesota Zephyr dinner train cars and two locomotives fell through this summer, train movers plopped one of the locomotives right where it was -- on property owned by the city of Stillwater.

That was almost two months ago.

City officials have been working with owner Dave Paradeau since July 27 to get the locomotive -- which is sitting on blocks -- off the gravel parking area between P.D. Pappy's Music Bar & Grill and the Lofts of Stillwater condominium building.

The locomotive must be removed before winter because it is sitting where city crews build a berm each spring to prevent flooding, said City Administrator Larry Hansen.

"He can't leave it there," Hansen said. "We can't be monkeying around with it in the spring. ... I view it as Mr. Paradeau's problem to get it out of there. If he doesn't do it, then we will."

It would cost about $10,000, Paradeau says, to move the locomotive back to his property at the former train depot.

The Zephyr's other locomotive is on blocks near the track that runs through Paradeau's property; the six train cars are being temporarily stored on Andersen Corp. property in Bayport.

Which is another problem.

Andersen officials agreed this summer to store the train "for a short transition period between moving it from downtown Stillwater to its next destination," company spokeswoman Laurie Bauer said.

"Unfortunately, things have not happened as quickly as planned," Bauer said.

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"We are working with Mr. Paradeau to remove the train from our property to ensure it doesn't impact our business."

Paradeau, who lives in West Palm Beach, Fla., said Thursday, Sept. 20, that he is trying desperately to find a place to store the eight-unit dinner train while he looks for a buyer.

"It's like pulling teeth," he said. "I need a storage space that can not only handle 600 feet of train but also basically 600 more feet of flatbeds to put the train on. It's a big space, and, in this day and age, you can't sit and leave equipment like mine out unprotected."

People just don't have 600 to 800 feet of siding -- the short stretches of railroad track used to store rolling stock -- sitting around unused, he said.

The train is being moved from Stillwater to make way for the new Brown's Creek Trail. Paradeau sold the almost 6-mile train corridor to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources last year for $4.25 million.

Paradeau said the train movers should not have left the 130-ton locomotive on city property.

"They should have backed up the trailer and dropped off the locomotive on my property, but they didn't," he said. "They needed the trailer, so they just thought they would drop it off because all the good intentions were to keep it moving."

But he said it also doesn't make sense for him to spend $10,000 to move the locomotive about 150 yards to his own property when a permanent storage solution could be found within days.

"You don't just pick up a 130-ton train without having big trailers and staff and two cranes," he said. "Any minute I could get a phone call and then the problem will be solved."

Paradeau said he has talked to potential storage places all over the country, including Utah, Texas, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

"I'm diligently looking daily to find a solution to this," he said. "I just need some cooperation, and it's very difficult. I'm so sick and tired of all of this. It's killing me. I don't like to continue doing this. I don't like to disrupt anybody, including the city."